I stumbled across this very interesting story on a new intriguing piece of fitness equipment that you can actually ride outside just like you can ride a bike, only with less friction on your knee joints, just like an elliptical machine. It’s basically a hybrid of a bicycle and an elliptical trainer.  You can ride it around on sidewalks and on the road, just like you would a normal bike, and you can also get up to quite a nice speed on it.

In fitness cardio workout is an important key element. There is no sport or activity that does not require the need of a cardio workout. Most common of all cardio exercises is running which provides the body with improved blood circulation, trained breathing lungs and stronger muscle.

Now, not every small town or city has the terrain good running mileage. Running can be quite boring when you run in circles on a football court. Interesting form of running is from one place to another without the need to make circles.

So, I was on the elliptical machine that we have at our gym where I work the other day, and I discovered that there was a new way I could position my feet and legs on the machine so that I could really target one of my consistent problem areas – my saddle bags on the sides of my thighs. They are definitely partially genetic, because even when I lose a boatload of weight and am at my leanest, I still have those two stubborn, albeit smaller, pouches on the sides of my thighs, just clinging to them like some sort of extra appendage.

Wanna give someone a gift that gives and gives for years to come? Buy them a high quality elliptical machine like a, or a treadmill such as a Horizon treadmill or a Proform treadmill, two of my all time favorite brands in home exercise equipment because they’re sturdy, they last forever, and they make it feel like you’re working out in a professional gym because they give the same workout feel and results. Not only that, but around the holidays, especially this holida and possibly next if the economy doesn’t pull itself together, you will be finding some of the best deals- deals of a lifetime on these awesome pieces of workout equipment.

I had an interesting experience today at the gym where I work (for new readers, yes I am lucky enough to have a job that thinks a lot of it’s employees and has an employee gym you can go to on your lunch breaks, before and after work etc.) just today actually. I went in after, I’m ashamed to say, a couple day respite from working out. I was in desperate need of blowing off some therapeutic steam in the gym, and felt as if I were going to explode with all the stress and anxiety that had built up from those previous days of not working out. Ah, the benefits of being a workout junkie, huh?

I love the Horizon elliptical machine we have, no doubt about it. We’ve now had it for a little over a year, making it one of the first purchases we made when we finally moved into a home where we had room to put a little mini gym, and ever since then it is a staple in both mine and my boyfriend’s workout routine and also a pivotal part of our cardiovascular fitness routine and health.

Elliptical machines are a funny thing. I’ve been on several of them, including my own which I love, the Horizon elliptical machine make, and they all vary in their usability. What I mean is that they vary in how hard they are to use, which means they are probably adjusted to different resistences to some degree, but it also has to do with how high quality of a machine you are working out with as well.

I, for one, happen to have a problem where my quads, or as they are termed properly, quadriceps, the large leg muscles that start just below your hips on the fronts of your legs, get absolutely huge when I work out consistently or very hard. But only if I’m doing certain types of aerobic exercise, and I’ve figured out which ones to avoid and which ones to do liberally to keep them smaller so my pants fit me right.

I’m really a fan of the elliptical machine, in case you haven’t noticed by the elliptical machine reviews we’ve posted on a couple different models here. Ellipticals are my favorite piece of work out cardio equipment because of their ability to help elongate the legs as well as keep them lean instead of bulking them up, like I feel the treadmill does for me.

I limit my use of treadmills because of my body’s personal tendency to get bulky in the quad area and when I walk or run, I tend to use this muscle the most. That’s just me though, I know tons of people, men and women alike, who love what a treadmill does for their body and their fitness level.

I know it’s a bit early to be asking for gifts or even thinking about what to buy others. Well, maybe not so much for some early birds who routinely start shopping months early for Christmas so they can avoid the holiday rushed and the inevitably picked over racks of merchandise at malls around the holidays. I myself tend to fall somewhere in between. While I wouldn’t consider myself an early Christmas shopped, I also don’t consider myself a last minute Christmas shopper who is still out on Christmas Eve putting the finishing touches on her Christmas shopping.